Explaining Variables: Leadership Climate

Probes on a questionnaire must be worded to elicit from the
respondents clear, precise, specific details concerning narrow,
probably historical, situations. Presentation of the findings of
the questionnaire must be broad summaries designed to be as general
and future-action-oriented as possible. Since the purpose for
investigating the narrow past is to provide information on which to
base decisions in the broad future, the chasm between the
particular and the general must be bridged.

In a recent survey we asked employees of major corporations to
rate the management leadership climate they experience. The items
on the questionnaire were clear and precise. They are summarized
in the column labelled ITEM in the Figure. The most frequently
acknowledged trait was that the manager had a well managed
department, the most rarely that there were prompt decisions. We
see a hierarchy of management competencies from the relatively easy
to the relatively hard. But these are just a checklist. To think
about them, one at a time, is too exhausting and perplexing. We
can keep only 4 or 5 details in our short-term memories. There are
too many details here. The first step in communication, therefore,
is to summarize the construct into a few clear stages. After
considerable thought and discussion, this was achieved in the
column labelled FOCUS. Managers advance from Efficient, to
Concerned (Climate), to Activist, to Decisive. This does not pass
judgement on whether the decisions are good, just that the manager
has a firm enough grasp of the situation to make prompt
decisions.

We now have a theory of management. But how does it relate to
the corporations? The bar chart shows the distribution of
companies in rescaled logits. At the bottom, around 20, even
departmental efficiency has not been achieved. At the top, around
80, managers have surpassed the range of performance probed by the
questionnaire. Again, the bar-chart provides too much detail. The
fairly uniform spread of corporations must also be summarized.
After more thought, we achieved this in the column labelled
DESCRIPTION. 5 stages are identified. For companies near the
bottom, labelled (JUST) SURVIVING, even routine management tasks
are almost too much to handle. At the top, labelled (POTENTIALLY)
WINNING, are managers eager to take on new challenges and become
world leaders in business.

A mass of complex survey data has been summarized into a mere 9
words. These words tell managers their own performance level and
what to focus on next (the construct). The words also tell top
executives the status of their corporations and which area to
strengthen next. The power and validity of this construct, its
interpretation and its use, become obvious as soon as one applies
it to one's own corporate situation.

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